Although he was best known for drumming, Ricky was a Grammy Award winning composer and one of the most respected songwriters, producers and arrangers in the industry.

A founding member of the YellowJackets, he received a Grammy in 1986 for co-writing the hit song "And You Know That" from the album Shades, which he co-produced. Ricky co-wrote and co-produced the Pointer Sisters' hit "Uh-Uh", and the Fattburger hit, "Good News". Other writing and/or co-producing credits include tracks for the movies Only You, Star Trek 5, Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie, There's No Greater Love, and The Prince of Egypt featuring the song "When You Believe" performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. He also released a holiday CD enetitled Ricky Lawson's Christmas With Friends which can be purchasd here.

He starting playing drums at age 16 and his natural talent allowed him the versatility to perform on various jazz, country, pop, R&B, funk and Latin gigs. Some of the biggest #1 and multi-platinum singles and albums that have featured Ricky's talents are Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" (which features the 'floor tom hit heard around the world!'), Anita Baker's "Sweet Love", and Lionel Richie's "Dancing On The Ceiling".

Pearl Corporation President/CEO Terry West comments, "Ricky Lawson was one of the greatest drummers of our time. Millions of people have seen him perform while touring with artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Steely Dan, Phil Collins and countless others. He was a warm, caring and kind individual that was truly passionate about music and the education of the next generation of young musicians. The entire Pearl Family will undoubtedly miss his presence in our booth at the upcoming Winter NAMM Show where he was always a mainstay. We are deeply saddened by his untimely passing and our hearts and prayers go out to his family and to his many fans across the world."

Ricky's motto was "Get it right the first time" and he did over and over again by becoming one of the celebrated drummers in history.

We will miss you.

- The Pearl Drums Family

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